Wildlife Economy

Sector-wide information on the South African wildlife ranching industry

 

Enterprise attributes

  • A wildlife ranch has a mean annual revenue of USD 404/ha, higher than an average livestock farm (USD 131 / ha)2
  • Annual wildlife ranch return on investment of 6.8% (median) in 2016 (interquartile range of 1.4-15.0%)2
  • Most ranchers conduct multiple revenue generating activities2
  • Live sales are most common, followed by ecotourism, trophy hunting and meat hunting2
  • Just under half of ranches combine wildlife and livestock2
  • Models that specialise in high-end ecotourism, followed by trophy hunting, yield the highest returns, but have the highest barriers to entry and the greatest fixed operational costs3

National economic impact

  • Trophy hunters spend USD 250 million per year and support 17 000 jobs1
  •  Meat hunting generates ZAR 0,651 billion / USD 51 million per year2
  • Live game trade generates ZAR 4.328 billion / USD 339 million per year2
  • Game meat sales generate ZAR 0.612 billion / USD 48 million2
  • Top meat producers harvest game meat at volumes comparable with lower-tier livestock farms2
  • Potential to grow game meat sector, with current wildlife meat production of 50,000 compared with 1.2 million tons of livestock meat2

National social impact

  • 68,000 jobs created by the wildlife ranching sector2
  • Wildlife ranches employ more people on average (0.0088 / ha) than livestock farms (0.0037 / ha)2
  • Wildlife ranches pay employees more on average (USD 334 / month) than livestock farms (USD 204 / month)2
  • Wildlife ranches employ more women than livestock farms, particularly ecotourism ranches4
  • Wildlife ranches provide non-salary benefits including housing and food4

National conservation impact

  • 20 million hectares of land2 supporting 4.66–7.25 million herbivores5
  • Ranches conserve 40 species of indigenous herbivores, including 12 nationally threatened species5
  • Higher large herbivore species richness and more threatened species than the average state park5
  • 46% of national wildlife ranch extent overlaps with Critical Biodiversity Areas4
  • Effectiveness of wildlife ranches in preventing vegetation loss is comparable to state parks6
  • 70% of national ranch extent is under active sustainable land management (e.g., alien clearing, restoration of degraded lands)4

The diverse wildlife ranch enterprises

 

There are six major revenue-
generating activities on
wildlife ranches:

Ecotourism

Trophy (international) hunting

Biltong (domestic) hunting

Wildlife breeding

Game meat (‘venison’)

Livestock

Ranches adopt distinct combinations of activities, with different investment requirements and returns:

 

Ecotourism focused ranches

 

  • >80% of revenue from ecotourism
  • Over half of visitors are international
  • Requires very high investment in land and infrastructure,
    and intermediate investment in game
  • Median revenues = R2.7 million (R1900/ha); ROI = 4% (IQR range 0 to 10%)
  • Property investment = R34 million (IQR range R18 to R103 mil)
  • Game investment = R36 million (IQR range R11 to R91 mil)

Wildlife breeding ranches

 

  • >50% of revenue from the breeding and sale of live animals
  • Typically also undertake trophy (international) hunting and some ecotourism
  • Requires intermediate investment in land and infrastructure, and very high investment in game
  • Average revenues = R3.0 million (R1000/ha); ROI = 0% (IQR range -1 to 7%)
  • Property investment = R20 million (IQR range R6 to R35 mil) 
  • Game investment = R74 million (IQR range R37 to R148 mil)

Trophy hunting focused ranches

 

  • 75% of revenue from trophy (international) hunting
  • Remainder from breeding and sale of live game, game meat, and livestock
  • Depends almost entirely on international visitors
  • Requires high investment in land and infrastructure, and high investment in game
  • Average revenues = R4 million (R700/ha); ROI = 2% (IQR range 1 to 8%)
  • Property investment = R26 million (IQR range R10 to R46 mil)
  • Game investment = R51 million (IQR range R17 to R70 mil)

Mixed wildlife-livestock ranches

 

  • Majority of revenues from a combination of trophy hunting and meat (domestic) hunting, as well as some meat sales and ecotourism
  • Most visitors are domestic (South African)
  • Less land and infrastructure investment; low-intermediate game investment
  • Average revenues = R0.6 million (R200/ha); ROI = 0% (IQR range -1 to 1%)
  • Property investment = R17 million (IQR range R8 to R28 mil)
  • Game investment = R22 million (IQR range R13 to R52 mil)

Mixed wildlife ranches

 

  • Two-thirds of revenue from livestock
  • Remainder from ecotourism and hunting (domestic and international)
  • Requires less investment in land, infrastructure and game
  • Average revenues = R1.6 million (R400/ha); ROI = 0% (IQR range 0 to 6%)
  • Property investment = R12 million (IQR range R6 to R19 mil)
  • Game investment = R13 million (IQR range R8 to R32 mil)

Socio-economic and conservation impacts of wildlife enterprises

 

Enterprise

Social & Economic

Conservation

Ecotourism focused ranches

22 jobs (0.009/ha)
45% of jobs are female
33% of jobs are paid >R5000/month
100% of jobs are permanent
R2.7 mil revenue (R1900/ha)
R3.5 mil expenditure into the economy (R1600/ha)

12 game species and 1200 animals
1 megaherbivore species
3 predator species
Retains 92% natural vegetation (2% threatened)
84% coverage of Critical Biodiversity Areas & Ecological Support Areas

Wildlife breeding ranches

15 jobs (0.005/ha)
25% of jobs are female
28% of jobs are paid >R5000/month
100% of jobs are permanent
R3.0 mil revenue (R1000/ha)
R3.9 mil expenditure into the economy (R1500/ha)

12 game species and 700 animals
2 predator species
Retains 84% natural vegetation (1% threatened)
61% coverage of Critical Biodiversity Areas & Ecological Support Areas

Trophy hunting focused ranches

15 jobs (0.003/ha)
28% of jobs are female
31% of jobs are paid >R5000/month
85% of jobs are permanent
R4.0 mil revenue (R700/ha)
R2.6 mil expenditure into the economy (R500/ha)

15 game species and 1000 animals
1 predator species
Retains 93% natural vegetation (2% threatened)
73% coverage of Critical Biodiversity Areas & Ecological Support Areas

Mixed wildlife ranches

9 jobs (0.003/ha)
33% of jobs are female
15% of jobs are paid >R5000/month 100% of jobs are permanent
R0.6 mil revenue (R200/ha)
R0.8 mil expenditure into the economy (R300/ha)

12 game species and 800 animals
2 predator species
Retains 93% natural vegetation (5% threatened)
73% coverage of Critical Biodiversity Areas & Ecological Support Areas

Mixed wildlife-livestock ranches

9 jobs (0.003/ha)
19% of jobs are female
0% of jobs are paid >R5000/month
84% of jobs are permanent
R1.6 mil revenue (R400/ha)
R1.7 mil expenditure into the economy (R400/ha)

10 game species and 250 animals
Retains 89% natural vegetation (16% threatened)
63% coverage of Critical Biodiversity Areas & Ecological Support Areas

Conventional livestock farms

12 jobs (0.005/ha)
13% of jobs are female
8% of jobs are paid >R5000/month
80% of jobs are permanent

5 game species and 150 animals
Retains 83% natural vegetation (3% threatened)
74% coverage of Critical Biodiversity Areas & Ecological Support Areas

 

This information was drawn from the Sustainable Wildlife Economies Project. For more information, visit: www.wildeconomy.org

References. 1. Saayman, M., van der Merwe, P. & Saayman, A. The economic impact of trophy hunting in the south African wildlife industry. Glob. Ecol. Conserv. 16, e00510 (2018). 2. Taylor, W. A., Lindsey, P. A., Nicholson, S. K., Relton, C. & Davies-Mostert, H. T. Jobs, game meat and profits: The benefits of wildlife ranching on marginal lands in South Africa. Biol. Conserv. 245, 108561 (2020). 3. Clements, H. S., Baum, J. & Cumming, G. S. Money and motives: an organizational ecology perspective on private land conservation. Biol. Conserv. 197, 108–115 (2016). 4. South African National Biodiversity Institute Sustainable Wildlife Economies Project. 5. Taylor, W. A. et al. South Africa’s private wildlife ranches protect globally significant populations of wild ungulates. Biodivers. Conserv. 30, 4111–4135 (2021). 6. Shumba, T., De Vos, A., Biggs, R., Esler, K. J. & Clements, H. S. The influence of biophysical and socio-economic factors on the effectiveness of private land conservation areas in preventing natural land cover loss across South Africa. Glob. Ecol. Conserv. 28, e01670 (2021).

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